-Published: Friday, January 17, 2020-




By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will visit the country as part of his working trip to Latin America.

According to the U.S. Department of State, Pompeo will meet with President Carlos Alvarado Tuesday and visit the Joint Operations Center, which facilitates regional law enforcement cooperation.

"Costa Rica, an important partner of the United States, supports democracy and the rule of law throughout the hemisphere, including in Nicaragua and Venezuela," said the U.S. Department of State in its announcement, which also said:

Pompeo will visit Costa Rica after traveling to Berlin Sunday to attend the jointly hosted German-U.N. international conference on Libya as part of the three-point plan U.N. Special Representative Ghassan Salamé outlined to the U.N. Security Council. Pompeo also is traveling to Bogota, Colombia, Monday where he will speak at the Third Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism Ministerial and meet with President Iván Duque Márquez  and other regional leaders. The secretary will also discuss strong counternarcotics cooperation with Colombia.

Another U.S. State Department official Julie J. Chung visited Costa Rica recently. She is principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.


Monday Manuel Ventura-Robles, Costa Rica minister of Foreign Affairs met with Chung and Sharon Day, the U.S. ambassador in Costa Rica to express concern over a crime warning issued by Washington.

According to the foreign ministry, Ventura expressed to Chung the country's' concern after the recent decision of the U.S. to reduce the level of safety for travel to Costa Rica.

"Both diplomats are confident that this decision will not negatively impact the high number of U.S. citizens tourists that the country receives," said the ministry said in its statement, referring to Ventura and Chung.

In addition, other issues were discussed in the session, such as the political situation in the region, especially the crisis in Nicaragua and Venezuela, said the ministry.

According to the U.S. Embassy, Chung visited Costa Rica for the first time to discuss top U.S.-Costa Rican priorities, such as security, trade and foreign policy. Despite the visit being her first here, she is no stranger to Latin America. Her online biography says she was the deputy political counselor in Bogota, Colombia, where she managed the U.S. government’s largest extradition program, including paramilitary and narco-trafficking cases.

During her official three-day visit, Chung met with Costa Rican government officials and visited several U.S. companies in Costa Rica, said the embassy.

“Costa Rica and the United States share many values and objectives of which one of the main ones is the protection and defense of democracy. We are both concerned about the situation in Venezuela and Nicaragua and, therefore, are committed to working together to address these issues, and it is vital to mutually support each other,” said Chung in the U.S. Embassy statement. "We have been partners since 1851, so I wanted my first trip of the year and the decade as PDAS to be to Costa Rica, a partner with whom we have a strong, democratic relationship, a partner who is a leader in security and regional peace. I am here to show my respect to the Costa Rican government and the people and to acknowledge that our relationship is important more than ever. ”

The latest U.S. travel advisory dropped Costa Rica from the top level to the second.

The U.S. government issues these advisories to help ensure the safety of the U.S. citizens traveling to other countries. There are four categories with the fourth advising citizens not to travel to the country at all. Countries such as Iraq and South Sudan are in the fourth category.

According to the alert issued by the U. S. government, Costa Rica was lowered from Level 1 to level 2, which means that U.S. citizens must "exercise increased caution in Costa Rica due to crime." Level 1 says exercise normal precautions. Most northern European countries are included in this category.

The third level advises travelers to reconsider travel plans. Honduras and Haiti are listed that way.

"While petty crime is the predominant threat for tourists in Costa Rica, violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault, occurs in Costa Rica," said the U.S. Department of State in its statement.

However, the U.S. also mentioned that "the Costa Rican government provides additional security resources in areas frequented by tourists."

In the warning the authorities gave this series of recommendations to tourists who decide to travel to Costa Rica:

 - Be aware of your surroundings.

 - Do not physically resist any robbery attempt.

 - Do not display signs of wealth, such as wearing expensive watches or jewelry.

The Costa Rican government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced at that time that it "respects the decision of a country of which it has been a partner, friend and ally in different fields."

However, the government said it "believes that reducing from level 1 to 2 is unfair and disproportionate, which is why it categorically oppose that and they will establish the corresponding diplomatic processes to reiterate the improvements that the country has been implemented. "

According to the ministry, the U.S. Embassy in San José had said that the category reduction "is due to an adjustment in the evaluation metric."

However, the adjustment in the evaluation metric was not explained to the government, the ministry said.

The ministry confirmed that it was informed that the U.S. government changed the travel advisory category to most of the countries in the world, reducing them from level 1 to 2. It is "a change that will take place gradually according to their unilateral vision, with the argument that U.S. citizens will be more alert to the risks."

The notice issued to U.S. citizens considering traveling to Costa Rica means that the predominant threat to tourists is minor crime.

According to data from the Ministry of Security, 688 tourists reported that they were robbed in 2019 of their belongings, cell phones or passports.

According to the ministry, the level reduction is particularly unexpected because it equals Costa Rica, "which closed 2019 with a homicide rate of 11 per 100,000 inhabitants," with countries that are among the most violent in the world and whose "rate exceeds 50 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants."

Costa Rica is a tourist destination with 5 million inhabitants that in 2018 received 3,016,667 international tourists, a number that grew in 2019 around 5%, said the ministry.


 
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Do you agree or disagree with the alert issued by the U.S. government on Costa Rica?   We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com